2012 WRAP: Carpenter’s oval prowess emerged once again in the season finale at Auto Club Speedway, as he managed to sneak past Dario Franchitti for the win just before Takuma Sato froze the field with his final-lap crash. He also collected top-10s on the short ovals at Milwaukee and Iowa, and was threatening a possible Indy 500 upset until a late spin and crash. As for the road/street circuits, however, Carpenter remained a work in progress (average finish on those tracks: 19.4).

2013 OUTLOOK: Carpenter’s bread-and-butter are the speedways; for IndyCar’s lone owner/driver, they always have been and always will be. His top priority will be improving his road/street performances and, of course, keeping his race team humming along in Season Two. Said Carpenter on Tuesday at Barber Motorsports Park: “What is good about our team now is that we know the direction we are headed. That wasn’t the case last year.”